


the death of midge klump according to...

by steelatoms



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Character Death, Episode: s02e18 Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember, F/F, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Shock, reupload
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 16:56:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15778224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steelatoms/pseuds/steelatoms
Summary: various povs of Midge's death, and what follows after





	the death of midge klump according to...

**Author's Note:**

> Reupload.
> 
> hey guys, so this is going to be a multi-part series, so yay, but most parts will just be retellings of the same night from each character's perspectives. it'll also diverge somewhat from canon (it was written before 2x19 or 2x20 aired), but will keep some themes from those episodes.

  
Chapter 1: veronica lodge  


Screams ring out through the hallway as people rush out in a frenzy, desperate to escape the horrifying image of a strung up teenage girl staring back at them, but Veronica Lodge couldn’t help but remain frozen to the spot.

 

_ “Oh, God.  Midge.”  _ she faintly heard Archie whisper and allowed herself to cast her gaze up at him for a second, noticing that his eyes were wide, familiar trauma glittering over his face.

 

Another voice, one she recognised as Moose Mason’s, screamed,  _ “No!”  _ before breaking off into a sob as he ran to Midge’s body, his large hands touching her cheeks, begging for a sign of life.

 

Alice Cooper was a sobbing, trembling wreck on the stage and Betty left Veronica’s side to rush over to her, soon joined by a worried-looking Jughead, who seemed to have caught the whole terrible event on camera.

 

Sheriff Keller came over after what felt like a century, attempting to pry an increasingly hysterical Moose away from Midge, each loud, screaming sob like a dagger to Veronica’s heart.  She and Moose were never particularly close, but she had been friends with Midge, and was feeling his pain.

 

By herself, however, she felt cold, distant, like the realisation of what happened hadn’t fully hit her.

 

Beside her, Archie dropped to his knees and heaved up his lunch, his face going pallid as tears stained his cheeks.  She could hear him whispering  _ ‘notagainnotagainnotagain’ _ and it tore her to pieces.

 

Unable to stand hearing him so upset, she knelt beside him, stroking his shoulders, unable to tear her eyes away from the scene.

 

It took Kevin to finally pull Moose away, the smaller boy wrapping his arms around Moose’s waist and pulling him backwards, pleading,  _ “Moose… please.” _ __  
  


Normally, Kevin wouldn’t have been able to take on Moose, with the other man being huge and burly, and a jock to boot, but in that moment, the man seemed to slump in his arms with no fight left in him.

 

Reggie made his way over, his face contorted with shock and horror as he ran his eyes over the scene before him, Midge’s mauled body hung like something biblical and he nearly threw up, doubling over.

 

Veronica wanted to rush over to help him also, despite  _ hating  _ him with a passion, but the sight of him dropping beside Kevin and Moose, one hand on his fellow Bulldog’s shoulder in a fruitless attempt at comfort, was enough to continue to still her motion.

 

The rest of the night went extremely, painfully slowly, with all the students being asked to leave the hall whilst Keller dealt with the crime scene.  Outside, Veronica and her friends were all approached by their parents.

 

Alice was still completely traumatised, and Betty instantly pulled her into another hug whilst Jughead shot his dad a saddened look.  Veronica’s parents exchanged a look before her dad tilted up her chin.

 

He asked, “Are you okay, Mija?”

 

“They just saw a classmate’s dead body, of course they’re not okay, Hiram!” Fred Andrews shoots back, clearly enraged as he turned to his own son, who was still trembling, “Arch?  Arch, can you hear me?”

 

Archie listlessly murmured,  _ “We were… we were singing.   _ In the dressing room, maybe-- maybe twenty minutes before it happened?  How could this-- I don’t understand… How can she be dead?”   
  


“I don’t know.” Fred replies, and it’s the truth; for once, he didn’t have any answers, he couldn’t do anything.

 

Archie shook his head, “The Black Hood… I knew.  I knew he wasn’t dead, right in my gut an-and I should’ve… I should’ve done something.”

 

Hiram began, “Archie--”

 

_ “No!”  _ Archie cried, “All this time, I’ve been screwing around, wasting my time on you and now…  _ Oh, God.   _ This is my fault.”   
  


Veronica asked, “How can it be your fault?”

 

“All those months ago, when the Black Hood first attacked… I could’ve done something…” Archie rambled, his eyes filling with tears, “Now Midge is dead… she’s just gone.”

 

Archie sounded like he was about to start hyperventilating but just before he could, Fred gathered him close, allowing him to sob against his shoulder.

 

_ “It’s okay, son.”  _ Fred whispered, stroking his hair, “I’m here.”

 

Veronica exchanged a look with the older man, one that told her that she couldn’t leave Archie, for fear of what he might do, something that even Fred might not be able to stop.

 

She looked down, pulling away from her father’s touch and pulling him to the side, “Daddy, if it’s quite alright, I’d like to stay with Archie tonight.”

 

_ “Mija--” _

 

She interrupted, “It’s okay.  I’m fine. But I need to stick with Archie, with my friends…  Just for now.”

 

“Of course, Mija.” her mother said before her father could even open his mouth.  She looked up at her husband, “Hiram. We should leave.”   
  


Hiram nods, leaning forward only to kiss his daughter’s forehead before leaving with his wife.  Veronica’s breath hitched and she felt the urge to cry, but swallowed it back, forcing herself to look at Moose, who was sat on a step, eyes blank and lifeless in shock as Kevin rested his head on his shoulder, holding his hand, Reggie on his other side, holding his other hand.  It was upsetting to see and Veronica couldn’t help but wonder if Archie’s words held some truth to them. She made her way back over, seeing that her boyfriend was still sobbing in his dad’s arms and felt guilty for even thinking those thoughts.

 

Pulling away from Moose, Reggie made his way over alongside Josie, Toni and Cheryl, all of whom looked horrified by the events of the night.

 

Archie pulled away from his dad, wiping his eyes as he looked at his friends, guilt in his eyes, “I h-had a feeling that it wasn’t the real Black Hood we took down.  I-I wanted so much to be wrong.” he looked up at his dad, “Oh, God. He’ll be coming after you, dad.” he babbled, remembering the Black Hood’s note,  _ “Everyone who escaped--”  _ he broke off with a gasp, “Oh, God.”

 

_ “Arch.”  _ Reggie stepped in, grabbing his shoulders, “You need to calm down.

 

Cheryl agreed, “We can’t sort this by freaking out,” Veronica noticed her gripping Toni’s hand like a lifeline and mentally labelled her a hypocrite.

 

“Don’t you understand?” Archie cried, “H-He’s back… The Black Hood.  An-And he’s gonna keep hurting and killing people.” his knees buckled again, but this time Veronica and Fred both caught him, both clinging onto him as he gasped and wept every memory of the Black Hood coming back tenfold.

  
It broke Veronica’s heart to see him in such a state, but then again, she didn’t blame him.  All she wanted to do was scream and cry, but she couldn’t feel a thing. Maybe she was broken, maybe something deep inside her had simply… snapped.

 

She watched Betty and Jughead hug and cry and tremble together and wished she could feel, but all that came from her was hollow, cold emptiness.

 

*

 

When they returned to the Andrews home, Archie was still a trembling mess, and Veronica and Fred were both practically holding him up.  Vegas ran up to him, snuffling and arfing, only to whine when Archie didn’t greet him in return.

 

_ “Vegas…”  _ Fred sighed, reaching forward to scratch his chin, “Good boy.”   
  
The two led Archie into the living room to sit down and Fred left to go get his son a drink of water.

 

_ “I can’t believe she’s gone.”  _ Archie mumbled; he had known Midge for years.

 

Veronica shook her head, “Me neither.”

 

“Moose, he’s gotta be a mess.” Archie stated, “He shouldn’t be alone.”   
  


Veronica said, “Well, luckily, Reggie’s going to go stay with him for a couple of days, isn’t it?” she sighed, “Reggie and I haven’t always had our best moments, but he can be alright.  Sometimes.”

 

“Reg, he’s…” Archie exhaled, “He acts like he’s a big tough dumb guy but underneath that… well, there’s more.  There’s more to him.”   
  


Veronica nodded, “Archie, are you going to be okay?”   
  


“Honestly, Ronnie?” Archie began, “I don’t know.  I thought I was done with this.”

 

She took his hand, “Look, it’s okay if you’re not okay.  I’m not. Nobody is.”   
  


“Midge is  _ dead.”  _ the redhead’s breath hitched, “Her mom has lost her only child and this town has lost one of the most innocent people.  I-I should’ve stopped the Black Hood.”

 

Veronica moved up to cup his cheeks, firmly telling him, “This  _ wasn’t  _ your fault.” her own breath trembled, “Midge… she…” she felt her own eyes fill with tears as she remembered her friend, “God… she was…”

 

_ “Indescribable.”  _ Archie answered, “Yeah.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> leave kudos/comments and follow my social media:
> 
> twitter: lgbtcanaries  
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>   
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